WindClan's Takeover
by Kitten With A Tie
Summary: "I'm afraid you won't be leaving," he told them. Fernpaw pressed against Molepaw, her eyes widened. "You see, WindClan needs more territory. We are growing, and our Clan needs warriors, and of course, more territory!"


Fernpaw, named after Dustpelt's mate, trudged behind Lionblaze. The cats were going to check the WindClan border to make sure they wouldn't try to invade the territory, even after the big battle against the Dark Forest.

Even after the battle the Clans still couldn't trust each other. All the cats who trained in the Dark Forest had been punished severely.

She had been told that Ivypool used to be jealous of Dovewing. She stopped, but now that she's confined to camp for a few moons, she's jealous... again.

The sharp scent of WindClan filled her nose and she flinched. She leaned forward. The patrol consited of Lionblaze, Berrynose, Molepaw and Rosepetal. Lionblaze trotted to the front of the patrol. Berrynose nodded to him before dropping back and padding beside Rosepetal.

When they reached the WindClan border, they sniffed around, marking their scent line. "You smell terrible!" Molepaw meowed loudly, looking at Fernpaw. The pale grey she-cat only hissed at him. "I do not! I washed myself today! You smell like a badgers den!"

Molepaw snarled and unsheathed his claws. Molepaw was bigger then her, but Fernpaw had the advantage. He was clumsy in battle by his size; she could easily confuse him by darting around.

"Stop it you two," growled Berrynose. "If you two both smell so bad then go down to the river." Molepaw hesitated. "Isn't that WindClan territory?" Rosepetal snorted.

"They wish it was." The two apprentices bounded down the slope and skidded into the river. The water as up to their bellies, and was refreshingly warm. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," Molepaw meowed quietly. "Me too. You don't smell so bad." Fernpaw said, smiling at her denmate.

Molepaw suddenly splashed her with water. "Hey!" Fernpaw splashed him back. She waded into deeper water so that her paws didn't touch the ground and she had to swim around like a furry fish. "Hah!" Molepaw laughed.

"You're half River- gah!" Paws had hit him and he fell face-first into the water. He was now squirming around, trying to get his attacker off of him.

Fernpaw leaped over to help, but paws grabbed her and flung her into the river. Blood roared in her ears and she tried to get the paws off of her but claws dug into her shoulders and she held in a shriek of pain.

A flash of gold flew by and her attacker was knocked away. She pulled her head out of the water, gasping for air and breath.

"Heathertail!" The snarl of Lionblaze filled Fernpaw's ears, and she turned, panting, to see her mentor pinning down the squirming lithe pale tabby she-cat. "Let go, half-Clan!" she snarled, trying to wiggle away.

"Why did you attack my apprentice?" Lionblaze hissed softly. "She was on WindClan territory!"  
"No she wasn't! Nobody owns the river!"  
"Get off me!" Heathertail kicked out her paws and hit Lionblaze in the belly. He stumbled backwards, his paws pulling off of her shoulders.

A loud caterwaul broke through the air as Rosepetal and Berrynose charged down the bank to help.

"Stop!" A black tom yowled. He had attacked Molepaw, but the brown and cream apprentice had wiggled away and was now chewing on his tail intently.

"We have only come to take you back to our camp. WindClan needs your help." Fernpaw noticed that she could see their ribs, and their pelts were torn and unclean.

"Why should we help you?" Berrynose asked, suspiscious. "Because WindClan is losing sanity," Heathertail growled, heaving her wet body out of the river and standing close to her Clanmate.

"We're afraid that they'll start eating themselves or eachother. The queens are even talking crazy! We're all scared."  
"Alright. We'll help you." Lionblaze mewed. "Hey! You don't make the decisions." Berrynose growled, his nose twitching. The five cats huddled into a tiny group and started whispering.

"Well?" demanded Lionblaze, glaring at Berrynose. "No! WindClan shouldn't need our help. For all we know this could be a trap and an excuse to hunt or steal our territory."

Rosepetal blinked her light blue eyes. "Did you see the way their pelts were?" she hissed at Berrynose.

"Would they really starve themselves just to take our territory?" Berrynose was thoughtful. "Fine. But we'd better go talk to Bramblestar just in case."

Lionblaze turned to the frail looking warriors. "We must talk to our leader." The black tom blinked his amber eyes before nodding seriously.

The five cats padded into their forest. The black tom called after him, "Hurry! Time is running out!"

_x x x_

"We will help WindClan." Bramblestar yowled. He had called a Clan meeting after the five cats arrived and told him everything.

Cats bombarded them with questions, but they refused to answer.

"I will send the first five cats over to help hunt for them. Since it is sunhigh, I will send another patrol at sunset."

Bramblestar leaped off the high-ledge and signaled to his deputy, Squirrelflight, who hurried after him.

_x x x_

What seemed like moons later, Berrynose signaled with his stump tail that it was time to go. They padded out of camp. "This is so exciting!" mewed Fernpaw, bouncing around. "We get to help WindClan!"

"How is that exciting?" Molepaw asked. "We have to help cats who don't hunt in the forest and whose breath smells like rabbit!"

Fernpaw wrinkled her nose. "So?"  
"Don't get too close to them," meowed Lionblaze without looking at the two apprentices. "We don't know if this is a trap or not."

When they reached the border, Heathertail and the black tom were waiting for them.

"Hurry." The black tom flicked his tail as they waded across the river. Heathertail padded close to Lionblaze.

Fernpaw noticed the weird looks she gave him, as if they were having kits and if she was happy and mad to see him.

When they reached camp, the scent of anger and fear hit them so hard they stumbled backwards. The two WindClan cats didn't even take notice of their stumbling paws and they walked right into camp.

"ThunderClan!" A tabby brown tom with dull amber eyes stumbled over. "We are so thankful that you have come. When are you leaving, and when are you sending another patrol?"

"Sunhigh. That's when we leave and another patrol takes our place. Then we come again at night to fetch the sunhigh patrol."

Berrynose explained. Onestar nodded. "Please, help my Clan. Since the battle they are too scared to even leave their dens or even get their wounds cleaned."

Fernpaw noticed that the dens had large holes in the rooves, revealing warriors slipping in and out of the den to either wake a cat or collapse in their nest. The nursery was the only den that was properly fixed. There was a gash near the entrance though.

"We'll help patch up the dens and hunt." Lionblaze meowed. "Great! Boulderpaw and Furzepaw will help you."

Lionblaze shuffled his paws. Fernpaw noticed that he looked very uncomfortable. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking up at her mentor. "Yes, I'm fine." He shook out his thick, golden pelt. "It just feels weird to be in WindClan camp without them snarling insults at us."

Fernpaw grunted. Furzepaw and Boulderpaw trotted over, their eyes wide with excitement. "What's it like living under trees?" Furzepaw asked, her eyes twinkling. "Yeah, do squirrels taste like rabbits?" Boulderpaw added.

Fernpaw shrugged. "Living under trees blocks us from the rain and snow," he said. "What about in leaf-bare?" Fernpaw opened her mouth to reply, but Lionblaze interrupted her by flicking his tail over her mouth.

"Boulderpaw, you and Fernpaw go and help the other cats mend the apprentice den. Furzepaw, you and I will go hunt." he ordered. Boulderpaw and Fernpaw padded away, chattering to each other.

Fernpaw was excited to see that Molepaw was helping mend the apprentice den, and she set to work beside him. "I wonder what it would be like to be a WindClan cat," Molepaw said as he weaved a reed with the others. "Yeah!" Fernpaw fluffed out her fur.

"Running through moorlands and hunting rabbits," she said. "But it would be hard to hunt," Molepaw said. "There is no cover to hide in!" Fernpaw huffed agreement, and they continued to work in silence.

_x x x_

"Alright, ThunderClan!" Berrynose called. "It's time to go." Birchfall, Dovewing, Brackenfur, Brightheart, and Cloudtail had been sent back to fetch their Clanmates. Berrynose stood beside them, his fur fluffed out against the cold night air.

"WindClan thanks you," Onestar said as Lionblaze rounded up Molepaw, Rosepetal, and Fernpaw. Brackenfur dipped his head. "May StarClan bless you," he murmured. Cloudtail snorted.

But as they padded towards the camp entrance, two warriors had slid in front of them. Brackenfur had skidded to a halt, his whiskers twitching. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cloudtail beat him to it.

"Get out of the way, mouse-brains!" he snarled, trying to barge past, but they shoved him backwards, hissing. Birchfall turned to Onestar, who hadn't moved from the spot.

"I'm afraid you won't be leaving," he told them. Fernpaw pressed against Molepaw, her eyes widened. "You see, WindClan needs more territory. We are growing, and our Clan needs warriors, and of course, more territory!" His voice rose to a purr, as if he was talking about something funny.

Cloudtail's fur was bristling, and he looked like a giant cloud with blazing ice blue eyes. "You stupid rabbit eating-"

Onestar flicked his tail, and Breezepelt and Heathertail launched themselves at Cloudtail, knocking him over and dragging him away.

Cloudtail's claws thrashed around wildly, but Heathertail and Breezepelt easily dodged his flailing paws.

"Take the apprentices to the apprentice den," Onestar ordered. "And put the warriors in the elders den and post guards."

Fernpaw and Molepaw were shoved to the apprentice den, and Fernpaw lost sight of Lionblaze's bristling gold pelt in a wave of fur.

Fernpaw crouched down, shivering at the back of the den. Molepaw pressed up against her, murmuring comfort. Boulderpaw and Furzepaw were watching them, their blue eyes were glowing in the dim light of the appretice den.

"We're sorry," Furzepaw told them. "It's just that-" She had taken a few steps toward them, but Molepaw swiped at her nose furiously. "Get away from us!" he snarled.

Furzepaw's eyes shone with hurt, and Boulderpaw began to nudge her towards her nest. "In the morning, everything will be better." Molepaw whispered in her ear.

"Bramblestar will send for help, and we'll be back in our nests." Fernpaw closed her eyes, hoping that Molepaw's words would be true.


End file.
